A well observed problem facing dog and cat owners is what to do when their pet bites and licks area of their bodies under treatment for a skin condition or a recent surgical procedure. Many solutions have been proposed and are currently in use. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,286,547 an animal restraint unit is disclosed. A collar 2 and waistband 3 (FIG. 1) are interconnected pivotally by a pair of lateral pieces 4 and 5 (FIG. 2), thereby limiting the animal's head movements. The animal's movement can be further suppressed with a mandible engagement attachment 28, 29 (FIGS. 10 and 11), and a thoracic attachment 33 (FIG. 12).
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,307,764, a protective pet collar is disclosed. A foam pad 14 enclosed in a fabric 15 backed sheet of plastic 13 (FIG. 3) forms a VELCRO fastened collar 10, thereby preventing the animal from making contact between its mouth and its body.
Again, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,828, a protective pet collar is disclosed. Two sheets 12, 14 of plastic form a protection collar 10 (FIG. 1) around an animal's neck, thereby preventing biting or licking affected areas of its body. Means are provided for adjustably attaching the two sheets together in parallel such that the proximal edges are located adjacent to each other and forming the protective collar with an adjustable width to accommodate different sizes of an animal's neck.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,337 teaches an interlockable pet collar for preventing an animal from biting or licking the affected injured areas of its body. The interlockable pet collar 10 (FIG. 1) discloses a multiplicity of open frame structures (FIGS. 2 and 6) interconnected to each other so as to form an open frame pet collar adjustable to the animal's neck size. Additionally, size adjustable tubular shaped collars 210, 310 (FIGS. 9 and 10) are disclosed.
While the above noted devices describe useful approaches to solving this problem they do not disclose the simple and easy connection of the restraint, the greater degree of comfortable mobility afforded the animal, and the economy of fabrication inherent in the present invention.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide an effective animal restraint for preventing biting and licking afflicted areas of the animal's body. An additional object is to provide for quick and easy attachment of the restraining device to the animal.
Still another object is to provide an economical animal restraint.
Yet another object is to provide an animal restraint that is comfortable for the animal to wear.
A further object is to provide an animal restraint fabricated from a single piece of rigid, flexible plastic.
An additional object is to provide an animal restraint covering large areas of the animal's body.